BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HEARING ON CRUCIAL ACADEMIC FREEDOM ISSUES.Click
here for details on
the Monday, January 22, 2007 hearing and the Board's proposed
student complaint and computer use policies.

The PSC
has reaffirmed its commitment to academic freedom. It does so in a
period framed by the events of September 11, 2001, by U.S. military
actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by new government initiatives that
have placed limits on civil liberties and intellectual inquiry. As
part of its commitment to academic freedom, the PSC has passed resolutions, created a new
Academic Freedom Committee and
encouraged other union committees, where it is appropriate to their work, to address these
new assaults on civil liberties and intellectual inquiry.

The PSC
has also created web pages devoted to academic freedom. Click on any
of the headings below to enter these pages.

The
following statement was adopted by the PSC Delegate Assembly at its
December 18, 2003 meeting

Academic Freedom consists both in the freedom of the instructor to
teach and in that of the student to learn. Both of these are
grounded in the premise that freedom of inquiry and the open
exchange of ideas are crucial to the well-being of the university,
and indeed of the nation.

In its classic “Statement on the Principles of Academic Freedom and
Tenure” in 1940, the American Association of University Professors
held that “Institutions of higher education are conducted for the
common good and not to further the interest of either the individual
teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon
the free search for truth and its free expression.” The Statement
further held that “Academic freedom in its teaching aspect is
fundamental for the protection of the rights of the teacher in
teaching and of the student to freedom in learning.”

In the name of “national security,” following the September 11th, 2001
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the government
has placed the academic freedom and the Constitutional rights of us
all at risk. Restrictions on free access to information, the
mingling of law enforcement and intelligence gathering, the
suspension of due process protections for citizens and aliens alike,
and the attempt to stifle dissent have marked this period,
threatening the academic freedom of the academic community –
students, staff and faculty.

Any restriction on the free expression of ideas, or any threat to such
expression, diminishes academic freedom. Removal of instructors,
including part-time and non-tenured faculty, without due process
protections chills the climate for free speech. Banning student
groups or external speakers, or prosecuting students and others for
their speech, undermines academic freedom. Surveillance of library
borrowing, Internet access and bookstore transactions, and
restrictions on access to information, similarly undermines our
freedom and violates our Constitutional right to privacy. Denial of
visas to students, faculty and researchers from particular countries
is contrary to the ideals of an open university and an open society.

Academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas and information are at
the heart of a university and the key to creating an environment for
learning. Protection of these freedoms must be among our highest
priorities.

ACADEMIC
FREEDOM UNDER ATTACK AT BROOKLY COLLEGE:
Click herefor
June 3, 2005 letter from PSC
President Barbara Bowen to Chancellor Matthew Goldstein on this
issue (and here for
special coverage in July 2005 Clarion).